


extended family

by hailingstars



Series: tumblr [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Graduation, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-12 23:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18456599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hailingstars/pseuds/hailingstars
Summary: All of the Avengers crash Peter's graduation and inspire him to make a speech similar to the one Tony gave the press at the end of Iron Man 1.





	extended family

**Author's Note:**

> Just gonna start out by saying this fic is kind of pointless fluff and I just needed to write them all at Peter's graduation out of an illogical hope that they will all be canonical alive by then pls enjoy

extended family 

“Wait, what?” asked Peter. He dropped his screwdriver and looked away from the web-shooters he’d been upgrading. Mr. Stark stared back at him, with a straight face, as if his response to Peter’s question was completely reasonable and not to be questioned. “You need how many tickets?” 

“Twelve.” 

“Twelve?” 

“Yep,” said Mr. Stark. He bopped him on the nose with a cloth as he passed by him, leaving Peter to wipe the smudge it left with his arm. “Just eighteen and your super-hearing is already going, huh?” 

“Umm,” said Peter. “You know, I thought you’d say like one, or two, if Ms. Potts wants to come, and I already have Happy’s ticket. He’s coming with May…” He trailed off as he did the math in his head, as he tried to figure out why and for who Mr. Stark needed those ten extra tickers. 

“Pep’s coming,” he told him. “And Rhodey and Bruce.” 

Peter looked at Mr. Stark and waited for him to keep going with his list. There was a sinking, suspicious feeling in his stomach, one that told Peter exactly where the rest of this conversation was going, and one that told Peter that his previous agreement with Mr. Stark had been violated. 

“And Steve, Bucky, Nat, Clint, Wanda, Vision,” said Tony, then paused. “Oh, and Thor.” 

“No! No way.” 

“You can’t tell Thor he can’t come to your graduation now. He’ll be heartbroken. Just a few hours ago he was going on and on about how he can’t wait to see the Midgardian coming of age ceremony.”

Peter slouched in his stool, over the workstation in front of him and buried his head in his hands. “Mr. Stark you promised you wouldn’t say anything.” 

He’d been nervous, at first, to ask Mr. Stark to come and see his graduation. He’d had some sort of illogical fear that his mentor wouldn’t want to spend a couple of hours in a high school auditorium, just to wait for Peter’s name to be called, and so what if he was valedictorian? So, what if he was reciting a speech he’d written? Even after years of working with Mr. Stark, of fighting with Iron Man, some days Peter Parker still didn’t feel very important. 

That fear, of course, had been proven illogical after he told Mr. Stark about the graduation and the accomplishment and the speech. In that moment, a new fear that been sparked, and that one didn’t feel so illogical. Peter feared Mr. Stark might start shouting about his fear from the rooftop of his building or fly around in his armor yelling about it into a megaphone. 

Peter had never seen pride as violent as Mr. Stark’s. It made him smile. When the man wasn’t looking. 

In all his parental gushing and hugs and tears, even if Mr. Stark said they weren’t really tears, he did make him one promise. That he wouldn’t say anything to the Avengers. That he would keep their involvement down to the graduation Peter was allowing Mr. Stark to throw him at the Avenger’s compound. 

Apparently, that hadn’t happened. The promise was broken, and Peter was terrified, if not a bit moved. That they all cared enough about him to sit and around in a high school auditorium and wait for him to speak. 

“I might have let it slip… in my excitement over hearing your speech,” admitted Mr. Stark. 

Peter sat up, picked his screwdriver back up, and twirled it through his fingers. He wished it wasn’t a big deal. He wished he could just let the whole Avengers team crash his graduation ceremony, if only to see Flash’s expression when he found out they were all there for Tony Stark’s intern, but that couldn’t happen. 

It was an unnecessary risk to Spider-Man’s secret identity, and lately, between online conspiracy theorists and the media trailing after Spider-Man’s every move, he felt like he needed to be extra careful. 

In the end, after a discussion where he shared his reasons with Mr. Stark, and where Mr. Stark admitted he’d lost a bit of reality in all his pride and excitement, Peter gave him two tickets, with a bit of guilt and regret as he handed them over. 

When he went home, when he was in his bedroom, alone, typing up his speech on a Stark laptop, he thought about heroes, and whether or not Mr. Stark ever regretted revealing to the world that he was one of them. 

*

Graduation day arrived swiftly. 

Peter had a stack of notecards in his hand as he stepped out onto the stage and took the valedictorians seat behind the podium. As the salutatorian, Flash sat next to him. They both looked out into the crowd, and they both spotted Tony Stark and Pepper Potts sit down, next to May and Happy, in the front row, at the same time. 

“Holy shit,” said Flash. “That’s Tony fucking Stark.” 

“Mmhm.” 

“I wonder what he’s doing here.” Flash straightened up in his chair. “Maybe he’s coming to scout out the talent, offer up some real internships.” 

Peter didn’t have the chance to offer a reply. Principal Morita now stood behind the podium, commanded the attention of the auditorium, and started the ceremony. Or at least he tried. He was interrupted by a string of people lining up against the back wall, by a string of Avengers lining up against the back wall, or rather, interrupted by the whispers and the pointing that they attracted.  
At the sight of Thor, standing in the middle of Avengers line, waving him at with extreme gusto, Peter’s eyes went wide with horror and he shrunk back in his chair. 

“Fuck that’s Thor,” said Flash. He looked all around them. “Who’s he waving at?”

By some miracle, Morita eventually regained control over the auditorium, and the ceremony started. Names were called. Peter watched as his classmates and friends crossed the stage, received their diplomas and sat back down. He watched as his teammates, the Avengers, stood at the back, with nowhere to sit, the entire time, just waiting for Peter to give his speech. 

It came too soon. Peter wasn’t really the sort to give speeches, farewell ones, or otherwise. That was more of Steve’s thing, but he stood up when he was announced. He shook Morita’s hand, and moved in front of the podium. 

Everything was so clear as he stood, and as he spoke. May held Happy’s hand as tears streamed down her face. Tony’s violent pride was evident in his eyes, and in his smile. Standing in the back row, his found family. All of them, except for Thor, blending in, and on their best behavior, hanging on his every word. 

He looked down at his notecards, then back up at the crowd, specifically he looked at May and Tony, and he hoped they would forgive him for what he was about to do. 

“There’s a lot of speculation and discourse on what it means to be a hero. My uncle Ben and my aunt May taught me that kindness is a superpower,” and Peter, with a nod and a smile for May. “Then there’s the other kind of hero. The kind that protects us from threats we never even hear about, that teach younger heroes, like Spider-Man, to wield their power, and their responsibility, with care.” 

“You all might be wondering what Spider-Man has to do with us,” said Peter, and there a few laughs echoed across the auditorium. Mr. Stark didn’t laugh. Neither did May. “Well the truth is… I am Spider-Man.” 

The auditorium was silent as Peter retreated back to his chair. He didn’t dare look at May or Mr. Stark, but he caught Flash’s expression before he sat down beside him. His eyes were popping out of his skull, and his mouth was hanging open, chin dropped. All of his previous questions had been answered, especially as Peter finally and happily waved back at Thor, and for once, Flash was left speechless. 

*

“What. The. Fuck?” 

May stood in front of Peter. Her reaction reminded him of when it was just her finding out he was Spider-Man, and that gave him hope. She embraced his choice to be Spider-Man then, so it was only a matter of time before she embraced his decision again. Just like that night though, Peter didn’t know what to say to her, but luckily, he didn’t have to say anything. 

She turned and directed her fury onto Mr. Stark. Their argument, at some point, descended into Italian, and Peter had to suppress a smile. He knew he should feel remorseful, that they were arguing about him in a foreign language because they were scared for him, but he couldn’t feel guilt. Just happy. They were a family, a real one, so he knew, even though emotions were high, and they were angry with him and at each one, eventually they would all return to his graduation party upstairs. 

And they did. They went back upstairs, after receiving promises of his impending death from both his sets of parents, and Peter had a great time. 

He played cards with Nat and Clint. He laughed with and attempted to steal beer from Thor. He chatted with Bruce about which courses and which professors he wanted when he got to MIT. He made Steve promise him to teach him to ride his motorcycle, when Mr. Stark was out of earshot, but most of all, he thanked them all for coming to his graduation. For inspiring him. For being there, and for listening. 

When his party was over, and there was nobody left except for him and Mr. Stark, Peter collapsed on the couch, feeling the weight of the day. 

“Well,” said Mr. Stark. He sat next to him, with a drink in hand. “Pepper says it’s official. She’s been talking with the media since your little… announcement and there’s too many threads connecting you to Spider-Man to play this off as a joke.” 

“I didn’t want to do that anyway.” 

“Peter… you didn’t think this through,” said Mr. Stark. “Do you have any idea how hard this is going to be?” 

“Harder than having two identities?” 

Mr. Stark looked at him, then took a sip of his whiskey. “There’s nothing you could say that’s gonna convince me or Pepper or May or Happy that this was a good idea.” 

“Well you don’t have to,” said Peter. “I’m an adult now, and it’s my choice.” 

“I don’t like that. Go back to being fifteen,” said Mr. Stark. He put his drink down and slung an arm around Peter’s shoulders “Still proud of you. Your aunt too, she’ll forgive you eventually.” 

“I know,” said Peter. He wiggled out of his grip. “Wait here. I got you a present.” 

He went over to where his bag hung on a chair and returned with a small box topped with a bow. Peter handed it over.

“You know as the graduate you’re supposed to be receiving the presents, not giving them, right?” he asked, with a raised eyebrow, as he took the box form him. 

“Just open it.” 

Peter sat back down next to him and watched as Mr. Stark undid the bow and took the lid off the box. He pulled out the present, a pair of knee-high socks with Peter’s face printed all across them and held it up to examine it. 

“Seriously kid?” 

“So you won’t forget my face when I move into my dorm,” said Peter. “I know you’ll miss me. Pepper said you’re going to be a mess.” 

“Oh she did?”

“Yeah.” Peter leaned back against his side. “I’m going to miss you too, Mr. Stark.” 

He put his arm back around Peter’s shoulder and squeezed. “Yeah. But there’s no way in hell I’m wearing these socks.” 

But months later, when Peter was browsing Instagram in his dorm room, he wasn’t at all surprised to stumble upon photos of Mr. Stark wearing socks with his face printed across them, and he was even less surprised to open his own mail on a rainy day in November to find socks with Mr. Stark’s face printed on them. 

Peter wore them with a violent pride he inherited from his dad.

**Author's Note:**

> [send me prompts on Tumblr](https://hailing-stars.tumblr.com)


End file.
